Rolled paper products such as toilet paper and paper towels are produced in a converting process that involves cutting a long “log” of the rolled paper product into the final lengths for further converting or packaging. For example, paper towel paper can be wound onto a cardboard core to form a log having a length of 110 inches long and a diameter of about 5 inches. This log is then cut in a log saw operation to produce multiple rolled products each having a final roll length, for example, to a length of about 11 inches.
A log saw typically cuts more than one log at a time. Logs can enter the log saw operation in parallel lanes, and typically from 2 to 5 logs can be sawn in a single saw operation. Thus, 2 to 5 lanes of cut-to-length rolls of product can be output from the log saw operation by a conveyor system that conveys the product in parallel lanes. These lanes of product continue to a subsequent process, such as primary packaging, e.g. wrapping or cartoning. The primary packaging can be further processed by secondary packaging, e.g. bundling or casepacking Rolls of product can be characterized as having a central longitudinal axis aligned parallel and central to a paper or cardboard core, and are generally marketed in a vertical orientation, that is, with the longitudinal axis oriented vertically. A bundled package of rolled paper products can be configured in virtually any manner of multiple columns of vertically oriented stacked rolls. For example, four columns of three stacked rolls can be bundled for a package containing twelve rolls.
If the final package is configured to have fewer or more columns of stacked rolls of product than the number of the lanes of the conveyor from the log saw operation, the lanes of product must be manipulated to go from the number of lanes coming from the log saw to the number of lanes required for bundling. Taking the example above, if three columns of two stacked rolls is to be packaged, the four lanes of product from the log saw must be manipulated such that three lanes of two rolled products at a time are transported to the packaging operation. This manipulation gives rise to various manufacturing complexities and problems, such as requiring “funneling” chutes which funnel lanes of product into the desired number of lanes for bundling, or complicated laning/gate mechanisms if more columns are needed than are provided by the log saw. One example of current systems for laning rolled product from a log saw is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,609.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved laning operation for rolled product output from one unit operation with a first number of adjacent, parallel lanes, to be input into another operation in a different number of adjacent, parallel lanes.